Exhumation Begins of Poisoned Lottery Winner

Urooj Khan died from cyanide poisoning a day after collecting lottery winnings, officials say

The body of Urooj Khan, the Illinois Lottery winner who authorities now say died of cyanide poisoning, will be exhumed Friday morning.

Family members say they hope the dig at Rosehill Cemetery, on Chicago's north side, will lead to answers as to who may have killed Khan, and why.

"We are confident he was a healthy person and cannot die like that," Khan's brother, ImTiaz Khan, said Thursday evening. "We are just praying to God that justice will be serviced, and whoever did this will be punished."

The 46-year-old's death in July, a single day after lottery officials presented him with a check for more than $425,000, was originally attributed to natural causes. A relative later requested the Cook County Medical Examiner take another look.

Lomasney said residual chemicals and substances will be present after six months, and investigators will be able to determine if those levels are normal or not. Cyanide, he explained, can be ingested in food or liquid. It can also be inhaled.

"If you find high levels of cyanide in the lungs higher than the other organs like the stomach or blood, then you can determine that the cyanide was taken into the body via inhalation," he said. "Likewise if you find the highest levels in the stomach then it was probably ingested."

A full report of the autopsy should be available within three months, Lamasney said.